Congratulations to the Rose, you are officially Unrivaled. While many doubted them at the beginning of the season, I never did, ranking the Rose third in my pre-season standings. Just saying, maybe I know a little something.
Now that the start-up league’s inaugural season has officially wrapped up, let’s talk about the successes and potential improvements for the future.
Successes
No. 1: Fan Experience
Although I didn’t get to catch a game in person myself, I did see all of the positive buzz online in posts about the gameday experience. Since the arena is small, there is more of a tight-knit community feel when you’re there. Players and coaches will walk around in between games, giving fans a chance to meet their favorite players.
Aside from the opportunity to see the stars walking around, there are fan activations outside the arena that keep people of all ages engaged. Another perk of Unrivaled is that it provides a tennis tournament-like experience, because when you buy a ticket, it’s for the whole day, meaning you can see four out of the six clubs play. Providing a good fan experience helps steep a loyal audience, which is important when starting a new league.
Hopefully, the allegiance that people feel to the league and the players will also translate back into the WNBA, strengthening the women’s sports community as a whole.
No. 2: Money
The goal for professional female athletes is to get paid what they deserve, and Unrivaled undoubtedly hit that mark. The league has an average salary of over $200,000 per player and offers additional cash incentives, depending on how far the players made it in the one-on-one tournament and playoffs.
In addition to the increased salaries as compared to the WNBA, Unrivaled secured many brand partnerships of which the players took advantage. For example, the partnership they have with Sephora gave the players a glam room at the arena and free products. Additionally, they had their South Florida apartments furnished by Wayfair, in addition to many other perks.
Unrivaled has shown that not only is paying women athletes what they’re worth more than feasible, but top brands will recognize their value as well.
No. 3: Development
The 3x3 format is perfect for player development and I saw this the most in the rookies, especially Angel Reese. She was the Unrivaled Defensive Player of the Year, averaging 13.3 points, 12.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. While Angel Reese has always been a rebounding machine through college and her first WNBA season, she got even better in Unrivaled. She led the league in rebounding and was second in double-doubles.
She put her versatility on full display, proving that she can be a threat on both sides of the ball. Her dominant performance against the then-undefeated Lunar Owls helped cement the Rose’s credibility as contenders. Against Napheesa Collier’s Lunar Owls, she tallied a ridiculous 22 points and 21 rebounds.
Not only is Unrivaled taking players’ athletic development seriously, but the league also prioritized their personal development as well. Players had access to amenities like saunas, personalized chefs and, speaking of Reese, a podcasting studio there allowed her to continue producing her show Unapologetically Angel. One of the most valuable and praised amenities, though, was having child care on-site.
It’s apparent that Unrivaled is prioritizing their players in multiple ways, something that I would argue the WNBA has fallen behind on.
Potential Improvements
No. 1: Injuries
I don’t know if there is a concrete way to solve this issue, but what was going on with all of the injuries? It seemed like every week a relief player was coming in for one of the teams. This was such an issue that during week four, Unrivaled had to cancel one of its games because injuries left every club shorthanded at some point, except for the Lunar Owls. I’m really not sure how Unrivaled can realistically mitigate this, because at some level it seems out of their hands, but it needs to be fixed because it hinders the on-court product.
Whether they need to look into different nutrition or training plans, the powers that be have to cut down on the number of injuries we saw in year one. Granted, some players came into the league with injuries, but that wasn’t the case for all. Whether by a new injury prevention strategy or mere luck, we need to see players miss fewer games next year.
No. 2: Blowouts
Something that also affected the on-court product, in similar fashion to the abundance of injuries, was that there were way too many blowouts detracting from the competition. In order to make the games more exciting, there needs to be more competition until the final buzzer sounds. There was such a large gap between the best team and the worst teams in Unrivaled.
Sometimes there were games that I really didn’t want to watch because I felt I could predict what was going to happen and who would win before tipoff. Maybe a redraft is needed or some trades need to happen midseason to help level the playing field.
No. 3: New Players
While Unrivaled has some of the brightest stars in the W, they’re still missing the two of the league’s most notable ones: Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson. For a league that promises the biggest women’s basketball stars, it’s hard to say they’re truly “Unrivaled” without some of the best competition.
If they do manage to secure those big stars in WIlson and Clark for next season, even more eyes will surely come to the league.
No. 4: Unrivaled: Travel Edition?
I don’t remember where I saw this, but when the league was first announced, it was alluded to that players would travel around to different cities to play. However, the league started in Miami and stayed there all season, so that never happened.
Recently, Unrivaled President Alex Bazzell announced that there is a possibility of visiting up to four cities in the upcoming season. I think this is an awesome idea because it will increase exposure for the league nationally. Also, by not traveling to more than four cities, players will still have some consistency in Miami for at least half of the season and the travel shouldn’t take a huge toll on their bodies.
Overall, I would call Unrivaled’s first season a success and I don’t think it could’ve come at a better time, especially with the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement up for renegotiation soon. Unrivaled has a six-year broadcast deal with TNT, so it’s not going anywhere.